Deadlocked Escape Rooms

Great room, not scared easily but definitely does give you the creeps! Original puzzles and techy which is refreshing, thoroughly enjoyed myself. Thanks guys!

Great game for Dr Who fans! 

I highly recommend this game to horror fans!

I won't put any spoilers I'll just say the game starts before you've even entered the building, the team have put so much thought into this and it shows! A shame I can't put 10 stars

Not for the faint hearted! You will scream

I was really apprehensive in booking this room as I'm not the best with jump scares, but I'm very glad that we did. The onboarding in the world that Deadlocked have created is very theatrical and sort of funny (at least to begin with!). The puzzles are very much at the forefront of the game with plenty to do throughout the 120 minute experience. Each puzzle was beautifully crafted and made sense within the creepy setting that they've made. Was it scary? Absolutely. I screamed and ran my way around the space at least a few times, but I knew I was safe when solving which made the experience much better. Highly highly recommended!

We’ll be hard pushed to find an escape room as well thought out and as immersive as this. Our hosts Charlie and James were marvellous and really brought the story to life. It was our first horror escape room and it was going to be a make or break scenario and it definitely secured its spot as our favourite game. With lots of nooks and crannies there was plenty to keep us busy and all puzzles were well thought out and interesting. I truly recommend this to everyone. 

I don't remember much from this room as my team mates did most of the puzzles whilst I stood in a corner absolutely terrified. However I do remember some of the puzzles being very high tech and original

We did this as we’ve done so many escape rooms but felt we were missing the UK’s top room due to our fear of horror. I don’t watch horror movies as I get too scared and my room partner seemed confident we would be fine. We did the time machine in the week before and also contacted the owners who gave me some spoilers on request to help me feel comfortable with the horror - my room partner misjudged their ability as he was terrified throughout. I was doing quite well but the drama ramps up and with a few more surprises I was truly terrified by the end . The scares and acting are really good, surprising and terrifying - the main scares mid puzzle are more jumps but between puzzles there is some genuine terrifying stuff.

As wimps we were buzzing to compete it but certainty the scares mean we couldn’t puzzle as hard as usual.

The hosts were fab and adapted the room for our fear and for us as a two. There were a couple of minor issues but they sought to solve this really well.

We were buzzing from the room and it’s so cool we highly recommend it but equally horror won’t be my genre going forward to I’m retiring from horror rooms on a huge high. If you’re scared do speak to them In advance. 

This is a family friendly escape room as compared to the other one on site. Most original room we’ve seen - the room is constantly changing and surprising you immersing you in the story. You arrive straight into the story no old fashioned instructions it’s all given to you in character- we loved it! 

Avoid parking in the car park if you can unless you have a tiny car.

We booked this room as we had heard it was the best in the UK but didn't do as much research about it as we probably should because none of our team are particularly into the horror genre of games. We explained that to the host and he did a really good job of toning it down a little for us which made it okay for a bunch of wusses to play. The game was good fun and visually the set was great, though big enough that it was quite hard to remember what we had and hadn't used towards the end. Only complaint was that at the beginning of the game they were a bit heavy handed with the clues. It felt like we were being hurried along and not given time to solve the first few puzzles ourselves even though we finished 30 mins early overall so can't have been horribly behind on time.

The game had a good concept and a fun to play. The puzzle were solid and we had a good time. There were a few niggles with the equipment and the host has to come in twice to fix things which was a bit of a shame but he handled it well and built it in to the character he was playing.

I generally love a Deadlocked game as they always embrace the weird and wonderful, but I was torn about this game because I really do NOT enjoy horror games. I'm very glad I played it though (thank you to my team for the moral support), because it is an incredible experience. 

Deadlocked made great use of their premises, and they have come such a long way in terms of production value. The puzzles were great and worked very well, even as part of a seasoned team there was a good amount of challenge.

The pacing between puzzles and cinematics was effective and left time to focus on solving stuff while still keeping people on their toes. The game is really cleverly made in terms of layout and puzzle design, and beautifully and elaborately decorated - you can see how much time, thought and love has gone into it in every prop and set dressing bit. It's a two-hour immersive experience with two actors, and an absolute asset in the UK landscape that deserves every bit of appreciation.

Disclaimer: Be ready and able to crawl through narrow spaces.

Absolutely fantastic room and most definitely worth a visit. My group are not the bravest when it comes to horror, so we found parts quite scary, but I think it's a good sign of the fact the room is immersive that we found it scary! Really original puzzles that required thinking about and were good fun to complete.

Another winner from the geniuses at Deadlocked.  Never been as terrified 🙂 

I was looking forward to this escape room, it cost a lot of money for 2 people and from previous experiences with rooms with actors they don’t disappoint. 

Good selection of puzzles, ranging from easy to tricky. Not too scary in my option, I feel the atmosphere could be improved upon to make it more creepy and on edge. I don’t personally feel the actors were not that involved, I feel I could of been scream at by the nurse, more jump scares, maybe just standing and staring. 

The story was ok, but i found it a bit weak in areas, strong start but it levelled out after a bit. It could of improved in areas, especially the introduction, just a bit lost I felt. I personally dislike it when they do not break character, I like a debriefing at the end and we didn’t get this, we felt rushed out. Better hosting perhaps? 2hrs is the max for 2 people I feel as it starts to get boring. 

It’s a good room but it needs more suspense for it to be scarier, more intimidating nurse, and a debrief the end. 

This escape room is the best room I have EVER done- Charlie and James hosted this rooms for us and we couldn’t be more greatful. 

The immersive nature of this room is what the UK escape room industry is missing, as well at the extra long format. 

Unique, family friendly experience with a clever implementation that adds to the immersion. It's also nice to come across an experience that lasts longer than the usual 60 minutes. The location itself is a bit run down but would recommend this as a good, family friendly experience with a nice mix of puzzles.

Let me start by saying that this is a fantastic room! The theming and attention to detail is superb and this room is on another level completely to their other room 'the time machine'. 

The effort that has gone into putting this room together is very apparent; the room designs, the use of space, and the audio all combine beautifully to create a truly immersive experience. 

If you aren't used to doing multiple rooms in a day then the "2 hours" tag may seem a little daunting but it's perfect for this room. It gives you time to get through the huge variety of puzzles across multiple rooms, whilst still being able to take in the experience unfolding around you. It didn't feel like we had to rush at any point and we even had time to stand around debating over who was going to go and do which scary thing (which is probably what took us the longest to be honest)! Everything was very cleverly signposted to somehow be both clear and discreet as to what you needed to do next, and at no point were we left wondering what to do next. The only issue we had in that regard was right at the end when we had somehow missed a key element - this is where we found out about the lack of hint system, as when we asked for help, we were played a pre-recorded message that didn't answer our question at all. Thankfully, they noticed we were completely perplexed (entirely our own fault for not looking around properly in the first place) and the GM/Actors very cleverly helped us out without breaking any immersion, which was fantastic.

The puzzles all felt very original and where there were more 'classic escape room puzzles' they had been so beautifully blended in with the theming that they felt new and fresh.

Now for the elephant in the room - the actors and the horror element.

I am not a fan of horror actors in rooms - I have high anxiety and am very susceptible to jump scares. That being said, I love horror-themed rooms and am a huge fan of the genre. This is where the review comes down to personal opinion. I cannot speak for every team as everyone reacts differently and every host may do things differently. I found the actor to be way too intense at times. It started off well with some well timed jump scares and cinematic use of the actors, but it progressively got more intense. (After talking to the host at the end we believe that they may have upped the intensity when they realised we weren't reacting much.) The actors in here WILL touch you and you are encouraged to move quickly through very tight spaces which is just going to lead to injuries when everyone is panicking in the dark. I felt extremely on edge the entire time. I was purposely avoiding going near some puzzles for fear of being grabbed from behind and really struggled to focus. With me as an exception, we are not a team that scare easily, so when even the lads were nervous to go into certain areas it shows that this is not a room for the easily scared.

I believe that its a fantastic room, it really is. But taking the "less is more" approach would have worked a lot better in this situation. Subltle sounds and movements in the dark mixed with corner of the eye sightings and suspense would have been much more creepy. But as I say, this is entirely personal opinion and different actors may play the role very differently. 

I highly recommend this room! But do proceed with caution if you have high anxiety, or have a chat with the host to adjust for a less intense interaction if nervous - because the room is well worth a visit if you can handle the scares!

One other small thing we noticed was that one of the lights in the final area wasn't working, which made it tricky to tell if you were completing the puzzle correctly, but is still solvable if you just assume its on when you press it. 

This was the first of the two rooms we did at Deadlocked Reading, and although it is still a great room and we had fun, I would say it is definitely the weaker of the two. However, with the other room being 18+, this is a great family-friendly room. They had a fantastic use of space, but it sometimes feels cramped (which explains the max 4-player limit). 

The lovely mixture of puzzles and the time-machine theme allowed them to mix up the themes beautifully, so it didn't start to feel boring, and the creative use of the space allowed you to keep wondering where you might end up next. The puzzle types matched the themes, and for a sci-fi theme, the tech was all working perfectly and well-maintained, which was a relief. Though the screen-based central system in the sci-fi zone did mean that as a team of 4 there were many moments where we were stood waiting for 1 member to solve the puzzles on the screen.

The main thing that let it down for me would be the budget. You could tell that it was put together on a lower budget and as someone with high attention to detail I struggled to be fully immersed when I could see how it had all been stuck together. The other thing being that the introductory speech was a little dragged out and often unrelated to the game, it started to feel quite awkward when we just wanted to get into the room and get started.

With a little extra TLC this could be a great little room for more novice teams, and is still a fun room for those more experienced. We loved all of the sci-fi easter eggs throughout and had a great time.

Even if you are not a fan of scary games I would say this is done in such a clever way you still have time to do the puzzles which are good fun and I personally feel this is worth the price as a two hour experience

I’ve wanted to play this game since I’d been told about it. I love immersive games, especially horror and The Reading Witch does not disappoint. 

You can see from the moment you step foot into the room, the attention to detail that has gone into every single thing. The owners have a passion for this, and that is shown in the end product.

The game itself is story driven from the very start, and completely immersive. The scares are terrifying, to a point where I, even though I knew this was a game, did not want to be on my own in a room.

I played this with my wife who is not a horror fan and was apprehensive about doing it to begin with because of that, but at the end she was saying she was glad she had done it. 

This is a premium game, at two hours long you certainly get your moneys worth! 

Very stoked to have an escape room so close to home that offers up multiple actors. Something we have come to love in Europe so pleased to see it influence here. 

The actors were great and interacted well with the room. We love to get stuck in and happy to play along.

What surprised me the most was the number of puzzles. Most of the time it is more of an experience but this still has all the puzzles of an escape room. 

I hope many more of these pop up. 

We have followed Deadlocked since 2020 when we found their first online game, and we eagerly completed them all in lockdown. We then made a special trip to Loughbrough in 2022 to do their rooms before the venue closed. This was our first visit to Reading. The room had some interesting puzzles and was cleverly laid out in the small space available. Our host was fully in character and very welcoming. Thanks for having us.

In my 2024 analysis of the Escape Room industry (www.linktr.ee/roguecolonel) I thought we would start to see a shift in game design to echo what was being done in broader Europe.  I didn't expect to see it this quickly.  This game have been in development for a long time, when I visited 18 months ago to play Time Machine, James was telling me then of his plans for this room and it sounded intriguing then.

I don't know if the historical basis is true but it feels like it combines elements of "The Woman in Black" with other classical ghost stories.  You are taking part in a TV show investigating the fore mentioned Witch and from the off things don't go as you might think.

There's an awful lot to like in this room, from the environment, to some fabulous touches of theatricality, some genuine jumps and so much more.  I hope that this is the start of the  paradigm shift the UK ER scene is looking for but if not then it is absolutely showing the way and I hope provides inspiration for others.

The game is creepy but not overly scary but has great signposting as even though it was a 120 minute game, I don't think we stood around at any point wondering what to do next.  James and Charlie have done a great job here and its well worth your time.

Superb room, with clever touches we’ve not seen before. Possibly the best we’ve done, and we’ve played all the TimeTrap ones in Reading.  Definitely the scariest room we’ve played too!

Amazing room - fully immersive from the get go (which is absolutely on brand for Deadlocked) which reminded me of some of the TERPECA rooms we have done in Barcelona.

This is a horror escape room BUT it has actual proper puzzles so you need to try and concentrate while feeling tense. The styling of the room is well done and the way you are introduced to the room means that the guidance from the GM does not break the immersion at all - it all makes sense. 

The story is great with top notch acting, a few moments of real terror on top of the continuous sense of dread. There is a lot to do and there is some crawling involved, but it is well padded and spacious (we are both over 6ft and had plenty of room) but make sure you are suitable dressed for this.

Not for the faint of heart but, as someone who doesn't like horror rooms (I know...) I am so glad I played it. Don't let the horror theming put you off if it's not normally your thing.

So much fun, I wish I could delete it from my memory and play it for the first time again.

(Play the Time Machine while you are there - it's a fun room with some clever ideas that I have not seen elsewhere)

My new favourite room! Brilliant theming and immersion! So much to do, the time flew by, and the ending was pure Deadlocked! A definite ‘must play’ room and worth every penny!

Really cool concept in a room that I’ve never seen before! Amazing hosting as well and the room blew us away!

Four stars only because 95% of the experience is linear - this makes it difficult with groups of any size as a lot of the puzzles aren’t really accessible to more than two people at a time

This was one of the best overall experiences we have had doing an escape room in a while! From the moment we were greeted by our games master Charlie, we were transported into the adventure and I can't wait to play the new game when it's all ready to go! Great mix of puzzles and a lot of attention to detail in the room - if you are in Reading, you should check these guys out! 

Such mixed feelings about this room!

On the one hand, it’s incredibly novel and a really cool concept. The GM was in character from the second he opened the door.

On the other hand, it’s smells of damp and the room is built out of paper mache…

If there's one thing I've learned playing Escape Games is that Time Travel rarely goes to plan.  Such was this adventure in Reading, a time capsule has malfunctioned and we are the team to save it!  Across several time periods and with some brilliant play mechanics we did just that.  Our host was James (the owner) who was wonderfulyl ebullient throughout.  Some elelments of the scenery could do with some work but the gameplay was very good and the puzzles, although devious in some cases, were well signposted and flowed well.

The Owner was extremely passionate about escape rooms, we love this. A lot of thought and effort had gone into building this one and the use of recycled materials was very impressive. There were lots of sections to this escape room which made it fun. We especially liked our robot companion. This room is really recommended as it is a good challenge, fun and the owners really care about providing a good experience.

Fun room, the GM has to be quite hands on in this game and that aspect of it is fun! Some parts of this game were a little worn and they definitely needed a little TLC 

A really enjoyable room that was very well designed.  Lots of inventive puzzles and an inventive use of the space.  The hosting was superb and the whole family had a really enjoyable time.

10/10 Hosting, by far the best we've had so far. 

The game itself felt straightforward with its own little twists. 

Great attention to detail on some aspects of the set, some touch-ups wouldn't go amiss on others. 

There's some great puzzles, and interesting tech in this room, with all the electronic elements (puzzles, lighting, props) being very well executed.

However, the room is let down by the poor craftsmanship on the physical elements of the room (the set, props, decoration), which takes away from the theming and immersion of the room. This results in a room with some great storytelling and mechanics, but doesn't provide the escapism (pun not intended) that I like to find in an escape room.

This wouldn't be my first choice for a room to complete in Reading, and my experiences at Escape Reading far surpassed this room at Deadlocked.

Such a clever idea and loved the added touches of the room.

The owner then showed us little things in the room which we both enjoyed

Really fun format with having exactly 60 seconds a time to fix the time machine (kinda stressful in places but the fun kind). Good variety of technology based puzzles and everything worked well and was very much in the Deadlocked brand. Whilst the set was definitely a homemade feel it added a fun quirkiness to the game. We also really enjoyed having Wexie back (known famously in the Insiders online game) to help us along the way - only one clue needed and apparently a very quick time for a team of 2 so we're very pleased!

I think our host was very new, so i want to make it clear i think our experience wasn't exactly typical - but it did affect our enjoyment of the room. There are some very very clever elements to this game which i haven't seen anywhere else - but the puzzles just didn't quite do it for me! We were left confused at the end and the host didn't really answer our questions. 

I did really enjoy this room, but it didnt quite live up to the hype for me. I personally prefer a more polished/professional finish. 

I love Deadlockeds style so much. This is one of the most creative games I have ever played in terms of the timing and style - never seen anything else like it. They manage to make immersive, clever spaces with the bare minimum of money but once you are playing all you see is, say, a spaceship. They are so good at creating sets, that spotting a cupholder or a plastic food tray will not at all impact on the immersion (if anything it makes it even more impressive). The hosts are fully in their role from start to finish which adds to the excitement. You will also fall in love with Wexie, the robot and helper <3

The puzzles are ace, the storyline is brill and there is a reveal at one point which genuinely had us excited about what they had done. So clever, bloody love this company.

Solid room with a nice twist (variation) later in the room which we haven't seen anywhere else. Theming was appropriate but nothing outstanding. A nice room transition and some enjoyable puzzles. 

Oh boy it hurts to leave a negative review for this game. The concept is absolutely fantastic and is incredibly original. There was absolutely great potential here for a top tier game. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to that premise or the hype this game has built up over the years. 

Our biggest issue with the game was the blandness of the puzzles. Very few stood out, with most being frustrating or infuriatingly dull. I didn't appreciate the fact that in two of the four time-zones a lot of the puzzles revolved around very simple mini-games on the computer screen present. It wasn't very satisfying and didn't give any of that wow factor found in other games. Even the best puzzles present were relatively simple and would be filler in other rooms. 

It's a shame as I absolutely loved the concept of the room. Going to different time zones was a unique concept that could've been executed really well. It was especially interesting to see the spaces we'd visited before transformed into different timezones. Sadly this is where the second major issue rears it's head. Now i'm all for rooms being crafty and creating sets themselves. Sadly, I think the sets in Time Machine really let the game down. A lot of the game was clearly made on a budget, which would've been fine had more attention to detail been made. A few of the areas in this game felt incredibly bland (the time machine itself being one of them) and lacked any visual stimulation. Aside from one area, I found the theming to be very rough around the edges. It really tore me out of the experience when I could very clearly identify what certain theming elements were made out of. 

Overall it breaks my heart to write this review as it's so clearly a passion project for the team. It's a simply phenomenal concept that just isn't executed to the standard I'd expect given the price we paid. I felt it was overpriced for the experience we received and the puzzles just weren't satisfying to solve. It certainly didn't help there were some tech issues, ranging from certain parts of the time machine being janky to use, acknowledgement of puzzles being solved correctly being so delayed we got the confirmation mid way through our next attempt and being left entirely in the dark on one of our 'fixing the time machine' phases. I don't know if this was down to the tech or the host, but it was very dissapointing. I hate to say this but there are far better games in Reading. I'd avoid this one.

A very clever room especially with "only 60 seconds" to escape... Thankfully in this time machine, 60 seconds equates to 90 minutes. A unique take on the escape room with a faulty time machine to fix and ending up in different time locations. The puzzles were good and enough to keep you all busy. The only let down for me was the set design... Some may appreciate the fun side with cup holders redesigned in to a spaceship interior but with the effort some of the best rooms put in to their sets alongside their great puzzles and themes this is sadly missing to make this an outstanding room. 

Clearly a place full of passion for escape rooms and sci-fi. 

Our games master James was fantastic from start to finish, and made the experience a memorable one. The sequencing and structure of the puzzles was also very clever. 

The one small drawback was that parts of the set felt a little fragile so we tried to be extra careful while exploring.

A lot of love has gone into this room, and you can definitely see and feel it. Lovely room!

Another great room, full of clever puzzles, and excellent hosting by James & Charlie.

Some lovely little Easter eggs for the geek fans too.

Long room but a very clever concept

Nice puzzles and story. Not the most expensive looking room

Fix a time machine in 60 seconds with the help of a super cute robot (and fully integrated hint system) called Wexie! 

Original idea and EXCELLENT value for money for a 90 minute room. Innovative set changes & enthusiastic staff actors who add to the immersion. Plenty of well-linked puzzles to keep all 4 of us busy, whilst also allowing a little time to enjoy the scenery and geek out on the easter eggs. Charlie and James were of course, more than happy to talk through every part of the game with us afterwards and answer all our questions. And following our first room with them and becoming immediate Deadlocked fans...we had a LOT of questions!!! A must do for all Escape room/Doctor Who/Sci Fi fans.

As a huge fan of the Portal games, I just had to play this game for my birthday and I was NOT disappointed! The only problem was deciding how to play it out (the game has multiple endings due to a very fun twist) and solving any of the puzzles because I was having too much fun laughing at the clever audio interaction and delighting in the amusing homicidal AI related jokes.

This was my first ever game with Deadlocked, and my first experience of staff actors (our wonderful hosts, Charlie & James) who swept us up in the story from the second they opened the door. The puzzles were well signposted, and presented an increasing challenge as we progressed. Whilst it was the most difficult game I've done, this left us with a great sense of achievement whenever we solved a puzzle...and our gamesmasters were ready to guide us if needed. They were also very happy to chat with us about everything afterwards, talking through anything we missed. 

Of course, now I shall be quite biased as not only did I love the game, but I'm definitely a fan of what these guys do - they're super passionate geeks, and it shows in their work!

We played this game early after opening and even then it felt very special. You can sense the passion that was poured into this room and it was an absolute delight to play. This game ranks at the very high end of my favourite games and I urge anyone interested to play it!

This was our first ever room which is what gave us the escape room bug. The thoughts and details that went into this room are superb. As it was our first room, Charlie from deadlocked let us go over the time a little. From the moment we got into the building, the fun began and I can't wait to come back here to do the other rooms and visit deadlocked in Loughborough 🙂

Loved the idea for this game and how it worked - very clever. Great hosting by James, who was kind enough to have a long chat about the puzzles and gaming generally afterwards. 

Lovely hosting by Charlie, fun puzzles and some comedy moments from the computer. Set is looking a little tired but by their own admission the game is due for retirement - and I'm glad we got a chance to play while it's still open. 

Another great concept, well executed from Deadlocked.

Great concept for a room with some really nice touches thrown in.  Clever and innovative puzzles.  Fantastic GM too.

Every now and then, an escape room excites or astonishes me - however, it has been a while since a room has made me genuinely happy while playing through it.

Cannot recommend enough, excellent puzzles/story/design throughout - of personal note was the fantastic music throughout the experience which I would happily listen to again.

loved the twist

Some nice puzzle moments as well, but nothing overly exciting. This is made up for with excellent theme/storyline, and interesting twist. Some really humorous moments via audio, which was very enjoyable.

Solid room, solid puzzles - interesting storyline that doesn't get lost in the background., including good use of immersive storytelling techniques (live videos etc, updating you on mission progress, pinches of humour thrown in for good measure)

Furthermore an excellent & friendly host & owner who seems to be pushing some interesting themes, i look forward to trying out Deadlocked's further rooms!

Max out a team at 4, I feel any more would be overcrowded. Long time enthusiasts should ask for the extended edition.